Colorado Planned Parenthood shooter 'happy' with attack, idolized previous killer, court records show
On Monday night, a judge in Colorado unsealed several court documents on Robert Dear, who has confessed to killing three people and wounding nine others at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs last November. According to an arrest warrant, Dear told police "he was happy with what he had done because his actions... ensured that no more abortions would be conducted at the Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs," which has since reopened, and that he dreamed he will be greeted in heaven by aborted fetuses who want to thank him for saving un-aborted ones.
Dear also told police that he attacked the clinic because he was "upset with them performing abortions and the selling of baby parts," the documents record, and admired Paul Hill, who was executed in 2003 for murdering a Florida abortion doctor and his bodyguard in 1994. Other details from the reports included Dear calling President Obama the "antichrist," unsuccessfully trying to blow up the clinic by shooting propane canisters he'd placed nearby, wearing a makeshift bulletproof vest made of silver coins and duct tape, and calling the Planned Parenthood clinic for directions after getting lost on the drive from his house.
At the end of April, a judge will hear evidence on whether Dear is mentally competent to stand trial for the 179 counts against him, including first-degree murder.
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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